Some Guy Ritchie films , like “The Gentlemen,” are big, sloppy fun, while others, like “Wrath of Man,” (2021) are just big and sloppy. In the latter, the soundtrack heralds a menacing tone that persists as one criminal seeks payback from another. There’s lots of standard Ritchie touches – jumping back and forth in time, the audience never quite knowing whose side anyone is on – but some plot points are dwelled upon while others breeze by confusingly. But the tonal bleakness lacks the comic blackness Ritchie is often able to mine from intramural mayhem. Something’s missing in all this carnage. Humanity?
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Reba McIntyre! She’s the heartland mermaid strawberry atop the made-from-scratch dump cake that is “Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar” (2021). Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig (who also co-wrote the script) star as Midwestern gal pals at a Florida resort, trying to escape a midlife rut. Hollywood has a complicated relationship with heartland values and sometimes their comic depictions come off as more mean than funny. This one rides the edge between the two, but throws in so much stunt-casting (Reba!) – and a ridiculous, Dr. Evilesque subplot – you end up finding more to laugh with than laugh at.
The most surprising thing about “Redemption Day” (2021) is it has the audacity to hint at a sequel. Otherwise, this extract-the-hostage flick is a replating of the same baloney sandwich first served 30-plus years ago by Chuck Norris and his action-hero brethren. There’s classic implausibility – an expert archaeologist gets abducted because she can’t figure out the border between Algeria and Morocco (I guess that’s why she’s not a geographist) but just so happens to be married to a Medal of Honor security operator with severe PTSD. There’s also an obligatoraly sleazy CIA handler, enabling heroic yet cynical hijinks to ensue.
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